Please stay tuned.
April 28th, 2010
Wordless Wednesday: Smiles II
I had a few favorite smile pictures to choose from this week for the I Heart Faces challenge.
April 25th, 2010
I Heart Faces: Baby Smiles
Really the theme this week for i heart faces is just smiles. I’ve never posted this picture anywhere but it is one of my all time favorites. He was a few days old and so precious and new.
Lots of smiles at I Heart Faces today. Check it out.
~sigh~
Check out I Heart Faces!
April 20th, 2010
I Heart Faces: Collage
Weston
My new favorite photography site is I Heart Faces. This week’s theme is Collage. I started to use the One Year Of Weston, but instead made a different one. Check out some of the others there.
April 19th, 2010
Do Not Feed the Animals…..Please!
Recently I was online looking at things to do in Little Rock, and I surfed into the website of the Little Rock Zoo. It had been a few years since I had been there, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they now had an on-site cafe, so I decided this would be a nice little outing for me and my accomplice. The information on their site said that the cafe had burgers and such, which excited me because I do love a good burger, and sometimes random places like that can have really good ones.
The zoo has been trying to build themselves up after over the past few years, but adding on to some existing exhibits and creating a few new ones. Hence the building of what they call Cafe Africa. After strolling through some of the great apes, we decided to stop in for a bite.
Cafe Africa is centrally located in the zoo, and when we got there it was moderately busy. It does have a nice open air feel, and there are indoor and outdoor seating options. We ordered cheeseburgers and an order of spiral cut potato chips. Now, if I learned anything about food from my mother, it’s that you don’t need a lot of fancy stuff to make something taste amazing, and I think burgers are a great example of this. If you get a good burger with quality meat and good toppings, you can have something that is delicious. Sadly, the people who decided to serve food at the zoo didn’t get this memo.
This is pretty much the same burger that you get in your average school cafeteria, only it’s more expensive. For as much as they charge (like $4) they could do a LOT better. The zoo has banned all outside food so if you have a hungry screaming kid, you’re stuck with this. The one saving grace was the spiral cut potato chips. These were actually pretty good, but not good enough to make up for that atrocity they called a burger.
So overall, I would say if you go to the Little Rock Zoo, eat a good meal before hand, and pack a big purse with some snacks if you just have to. I didn’t see any food police on the prowl, and let’s be serious, how do they even know where that bag of chips came from really???
However, I did get some lovely animal snapshots for you to enjoy!
my favorite pic of the day!!!!
April 17th, 2010
Coveting The Coconut Cake
A few years ago my boss brought a cake to school. Everyone thought it was heavenly and were not in the least surprised to discover that her grandma made it. Ever since that day (and a few more cakes from Grandma) I have wanted that recipe. I don’t want to say that I was obsessed with getting my hands on it, but I fondly remembered those cakes—often! I asked here and there and finally, she brought me a sweet little hand written recipe. I was ecstatic to finally have my hands on it so I could make my very own cake!
And I read it.
Let me just say, when one is used to a Betty Crocker mix that this can be a shock to one’s system. I had the recipe in hand for two weeks before I had the courage to make it. I even had to have a trusty assistant because I didn’t feel capable of tackling this recipe alone. Yes, that’s right, I was intimidated by a recipe that is made by a sweet little senior citizen regularly. I will say that I appreciate the trouble that she took to write it out for me. Heck, that was more trouble that making a cake by a mix.
To start with here are the cake ingredients. No mix here people! I’m going to add the recipe for the cake first, followed by a few pictures. I will say that I’m sure that Grandma cracks her own coconut and shreds it herself, hence the title, Fresh Coconut Cake. After you see all the steps, you won’t be shocked if Grandma has a palm tree growing in the back yard that she harvests herself. We bought the kind in a package.
- 3 egg whites
- 1 1/2 C. Sugar
- 3/4 C. Shortening (part butter)
- 1 Tsp. Vanilla
- 3 egg yolks, well beaten
- 1/4 C. Grated coconut
- 2 1/4 C. Cake Flour
- 2 1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Salt
- 3/4 C. Coconut Milk
Sift dry ingredients together. (We were lazy and didn’t look for the sifter) Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Beat in 1/2 C. sugar 2 Tbs. at a time. Set this aside and cream shortening, adding vanilla and then beat in 1 C. sugar, then egg yolks. Beat well and then stir in coconut. Add this to the dry (sifted) ingredients alternately with coconut milk. Fold in egg whites. Spoon into two 9″ cake pans lined with wax paper. Grandma added that this is much moister when made into three layers but my trusty assistant felt that we would be lucky to make two work.(we also were unsure as to how to make this into 3 layers but I digress) We sprayed with Pam and baked at 350º for about 30 minutes.
separated eggs
Whipping egg whites.
Finally using the Crisco again.
Cake Flour? Easier to find that coconut milk, which is by the refried beans. FYI
Trusty assistant was found smacking on pizza when I really needed him!
Baked!
OMG. Now the part that had me frazzled. Grandma’s frosting seemed to have too much multi-tasking for me. I’m good at that, don’t get me wrong, just not so much when one task involves fire. This is a basic Seven Minute Frosting recipe. I love the deceptively easy name! I have zero pictures of the frosting making because it took all four hands to get it underway.
- 1 1/2 C. Sugar
- 1/2 C. Water
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 3 egg whites
- 1 1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp. white Vinegar
Boil 1 C. sugar, water and salt together. Place a lid over syrup to melt sugar crystals on the side of the pot. Remove lid and wipe with a paper towel to remove crystals. (I’m a little scared of being scarred by boiling liquid so I didn’t do too well at this) Boil to spin a thread. (this is what got me. I will elaborate later) This is pretty much boiling it for about 4 minutes or until it is 242º (soft ball stage) *The thread part you spin is very sticky and will stick to your teeth like super glue should you think you will taste it. Really. *
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and cream of tartar til you get stiff peaks. Then slowly add the sugar. Pour the boiling syrup over the egg whites, beating in about half at a time. (I gagged when I realized I had been coveting raw egg whites!) Add the vinegar at the end, which is not tasted at all. The eggs are cooked by the hot syrup and I Googled the chances of getting salmonella from this and it is pretty much zero.
The frosting is really pretty.
Very pretty. I do believe Grandma adds coconut to her finished product.
Was it as good as Grandma’s? Of course not. I’m sure I can improve. Her cake is moist and rich with flavor. More than that, I know her cakes are baked with love for the people she is making them for.
